Agrawal A et al

Health Renaissance 2013; Vol. 11 No.1; 83-85

Retained placenta in patient with valvular heart disease

Case Report

Management of retained placenta in patient with valvular heart disease

with pulmonary edema
A Agrawal1, A Thakur1, P Rijal1, P Basnet1, A Ghimire2, DK Uprety1
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, BPKIHS, Dharan, Nepal
1

2
Department of Aesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, BPKIHS, Dharan, Nepal

Abstract

A case of retained placenta following full-term vaginal delivery with an unscarred uterus
where surgical management of delivering the placenta was not attempted due to unfavorable
cardiac condition is presented. Although she was planned for hysterectomy, she was
successfully managed medically with injection methotrexate.

Introduction also been used to expedite resorption of placental

Retained placentas affect 0.5%3% of women
following delivery, and is a major cause of maternal
death from postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and
puerperal sepsis.1, 2 After uterine atony, retained
placenta is the second major indication for blood
transfusion in the third stage of labour3. Independent
risk factors associated with retained placenta include
non-use of antenatal care, previous retained placenta,
previous caesarean section, maternal age 35 years
or more, grand multiparity, previous dilatation and
curettage, preterm delivery and placenta weight less
than 501 gm.4 The ensuing complications may
include- severe post-partum haemorrhage with its
resultant coagulopathy, postpartum curettage, uterine
perforation, shock, infection, loss of fertility and even
death. The conventional treatment is manual removal
of placenta (MRP) under general anaesthesia(GA)
followed by hysterectomy if it fails. Not only does
this approach preclude future fertility, but it is also a
procedure synonymous with significant perioperative
risks. For women who wish to conserve their
reproductive function, other treatment options have
been described. In some settings, uterine conservation
(with the placenta left in situ) may be an alternative
strategy.58 Adjuvant therapy with methotrexate has
__________________________________________________
Address for correspondence
Dr Ajay Agrawal
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics
BPKIHS, Dharan, Nepal
Email: drajayagrawal@yahoo.com
tissue.68
Case report
A lady, 21 years P1 L1, reported at BPKIHS, 16
hours following vaginal delivery, with retained
placenta after failed attempt of MRP. She was
conscious, with normal vital signs, moderately pale,
with a diastolic murmur at aortic area. Uterus was
20-22 weeks size, well contracted with pelvic
examination showing moderate amount of bleeding
with patulous but closed cervical os and cord hanging
out of vagina
Her investigations read hemoglobin 10.9gm/dl, total
and differential counts within normal limits, with
normal readings of routine urine analysis, platelet
count, coagulation profile, hepatic and renal function
tests. There was prolonged QT interval and T wave
inversion in electrocardiography. Echocardiography
showed concentric left ventricular hypertrophy,
severe aortic stenosis, severe aortic regurgitation,
mild mitral regurgitation and tricuspid thickened AV
leaflets without pulmonary artery hypertension with
ejection fraction of 60%.
On 4th post partum day, she was planned for MRP.
However, before GA, after inserting epidural catheter
she developed severe pulmonary edema. MRP was
postponed and she was shifted to maternal intensive
care unit (MICU) for further management.
Considering the desire of the patient for retaining
her uterus, conservative management was planned.

83

On sixth postpartum day transabdominal sonography
revealed uterus of post partum size with endometrial
cavity showing an echogenic mass of dimensions
9.8cm x 8cm x 7cm, suggestive of placenta, with
vascularity on colour doppler confirming it to be
adherent to the uterine wall (placenta accreta), but
with no definite invasion (figure 1). Modality adopted
was: placenta left in-situ and injection methotrexate
given intramuscularly in the schedule of 1 mg/kg body
weight, weekly. Complete blood counts, liver and
renal function tests were done before giving each
dose of methotrexate which remained within limits.
Injection folinic acid 0.1 milligram per kilogram body
weight was given twenty-four hours after
methotrexate.
Figure 1: Placenta accreta
First dose of methotrexate was given on 6th post-
partum day after which she passed brownish vaginal
discharge along with bits of tissue. Broad spectrum
antibiotics and antiseptic vaginal douching was
continued. Size of the uterus decreased remarkably
and on 9th postpartum day it was 14-16 week size. 0n
13th day second dose was given and her trans-
abdominal sonography was repeated which revealed
decrease in placental size. However on 16 th
postpartum day, at night she started to have moderate
amount of vaginal bleeding, she was tachycadiac, with
normal blood pressure without evidence of pulmonary
edema. On abdominal examination, uterus was 14
weeks size, well contracted with pelvic examination
showing moderate amount of bleeding per vaginum
with patulous cervical os about two cm dilated. She
was planned for dilation and evacuation under
paracervical block which was successfully performed
and about 150gm of placental chunk was removed.
With this conservative strategy, vaginal bleeding
never became alarming and vaginal discharge never
purulent. Patient was discharged in a satisfactory
condition, fulfilling her initial desire of conserving the
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Agrawal A et al
Health Renaissance 2013; Vol. 11 No.1; 83-85
Retained placenta in patient with valvular heart disease
uterus, after 18 days of hospitalization. On subsequent
follow-ups, for one month, patient remained afebrile
with no evidence of infection, and normal sonographic
and colour doppler findings after a fortnight.
Discussion
Presently, the only effective treatment of retained
placenta is MRP under GA. The role of systemic
oxytocics in the management of retained placentas
is controversial. Oxytocics given prophylactically at
the time of delivery increase the number of placental
deliveries at 20 and 40 minutes but have no effect
on the number of placentas that eventually need
manual removal9.Injection of oxytocin into the
umbilical vein has been suggested as an alternative.
Despite several placebo controlled trials of this
technique, no firm conclusions have been reached
regarding its efficacy.10
Methotrexate has also been described an as adjuvant
therapy for the conservative management of placenta
accrete. 58, 11 It has been hypothesized that
methotrexate acts by inducing placental necrosis and
expediting a more rapid involution of the placenta12.
This contradicts the belief that methotrexate acts
only on rapidly dividing cells, given that trophoblast
proliferation is not felt to occur at term13. Thus, there
is controversy as to the effectiveness of methotrexate
as an adjuvant treatment. Also, there is a lack of
consensus regarding optimal dosing, frequency, or
route of administration. Dose in this particular case
was weekly 1 mg/kg body weight. In a recent review,
conservative management was utilized in 167 cases
of placenta accreta/percreta14.The failure rate was
22% and hysterectomy, either primary or delayed,
was required mostly for severe hemorrhage. Severe
maternal morbidity, including one maternal death,
occurred in 6% of cases. The death was attributed
to aplasia and nephrotoxicity secondary to
intraumbilical administration of methotrexate. This
case highlights the adverse effects that may occur
following even a single dose of adjuvant methotrexate.
Although conservative management of placenta
accrete appears to be successful at preventing
hysterectomy in most cases, there is still potential
for morbidity. If such an approach is used, intensive
monitoring for complications is required. Women may
continue to be at risk for weeks to months after
delivery. Sentilhes et al. reported a median period to
delayed hysterectomy of 22 weeks.14
Agrawal A et al
Health Renaissance 2013; Vol. 11 No.1; 83-85
Retained placenta in patient with valvular heart disease
Another controversy surrounding the use of
methotrexate in the management of placenta accreta
has been the utility of monitoring serum hCG. The
prognostic implications of decreasing hCG levels
following administration of methotrexate are better
described in the setting of ectopic pregnancy. For
placenta accrete, it is not clear whether decreasing
levels correlate with the rate of involution of placental
tissue. In one study, the serum hCG levels decreased
with a half-life of 5.2 days in women managed by
leaving the placenta in situ and did not vary with the
volume of remaining tissue.15 So it was not monitored
in our patient.
Conclusion
Our case demonstrates, conservative treatment of
persistent retained placenta can be successful. This
could have important public health implications where
facilities for manual removal are scarce or when
medical conditions of patient do not favor MRP under
GA. If an improvement in the conservative
management of placenta can be achieved, then
medical management of the retained placenta will
become the treatment of choice, even where theatre
facilities are available.
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